Alestorm's Genre:

Heavy Metal, Power Metal

Biography

Originally known as Battleheart, Alestorm, the purveyors of the relatively unexplored musical territory known as "pirate metal," formed in their original (pre-nautical) phase in 2004. As Battleheart, the group was initially a duo formed by Gavin Harper (guitar) and Christopher Bowes (vocals and keyboards), and recorded its first EP (a self-titled affair) in 2006. Over the course of the next year, feeling the need to bring their sound to the people of Scotland, Battleheart expanded to a four-piece with the addition of bassist Dani Evans and drummer Doug Swierczek. The new crew recorded another EP soon after, entitled Terror on the High Seas, and the buzz helped land a song from the release on Metal Hammer magazine's Battle Metal V compilation. Later that year, in 2007, the bandmembers -- after signing with Napalm Records -- decided to change their name to further the cause of their unique brand of metal, settling on Alestorm. Eventually, the lineup settled a bit more, with Ian Wilson bringing stability to the drummer position, and Alestorm released their debut album, Captain Morgan's Revenge, in early 2008. The band toured the United States later that year with fellow folk-metal giants Týr and Heidevolk before releasing its second full-length, Black Sails at Midnight, in spring 2009. ~ Chris True

Artists Related to Alestorm (10)

Based in the Faroes, a group of islands between Iceland and Norway that has been an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948, Týr record and perform in both English and in their native Faroese language.

A melodic power/death/folk metal band delving in Viking legends for lyrical inspiration, Helsinki, Finland's Ensiferum had to continually coexist with various simultaneous metal projects undertaken by its members.

Following in the footsteps of the Gathering and Lacuna Coil (goth-influenced "symphonic" metal bands with female vocalists), Nightwish were formed in Kitee, Finland, in 1997 by keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen.

Following their formation in 1993, Hammerfall underwent numerous personnel changes before settling on their current lineup, which includes principal songwriters Joachim Cans (vocals) and Oscar Dronjak (guitars).

Swiss folk-metal band Eluveitie incorporate folk instrumentation such as hurdy-gurdy, flute, and pipes into an otherwise traditional death metal style, also adding a pagan element channeled through lyrics in the Gaulish language (a dead language in the Celtic family that predated Latin throughout Western Europe).

Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth originally formed in 1988 under the name Scum; by the time the new moniker was adopted four years later, the lineup consisted of vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Anders Hansson, bassist Ted Lundstrom, and drummer Niko Kaukinen.